Tennis star and style icon Lea Pericoli dies

Ruth Comerford
BBC News

Lea Pericoli, Italian tennis star of the 1950s and 60s, has died aged 89.

Regarded as one of her country's top players, she reached the last 16 of the French Open twice and the Wimbledon championships three times.

Pericoli, who was born on 22 March 1935 in Milan, later became a popular television presenter and journalist, but it was contest outfits adorned with feather and fur that made her an icon.

"She was a bit like the mother to all of us," Angelo Binaghi, president of the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation, told local media.

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